ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, said on Monday his country would defend civil servants against “violent trolls” and ensure that exemplary punishment is meted out to them for pressurizing officials.
The statement came days after a senior bureaucrat said he had helped rig Feb. 8 national election in five districts, which had 13 national and 26 provincial assembly seats up for grabs.
Liaquat Ali Chattha, the Rawalpindi Division commissioner, said he was under such pressure from “overseas Pakistanis” and “social media” that he even contemplated suicide, before announcing his resignation.
PM Kakar said the people of Pakistan had spoken with a clear voice on Feb. 8 and given a split mandate, but some elements were pressurizing civil servants through the “weaponization of social media.”
“Some elements with proven track record of violent behavior and vigilantism are now using different tricks, including weaponization of social media, in blackmailing and pressurizing civil servants to switch their loyalties from the State of Pakistan to the violent gang,” the prime minister said.
“The State of Pakistan shall defend the civil servants in discharging their constitutional duties, act against these violent trolls and ensure exemplary punishment to them. There should be no doubt about our commitment to these noble civil servants serving the State and the people of Pakistan.”
While PM Kakar did not name any party, his statement appeared to be a clear reference to former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which has been at loggerheads with the caretaker administration and the country’s powerful military.
This month’s national election in Pakistan was marred by delays in release of polls results and has since sparked protests by political parties, including Khan’s PTI, across the South Asian country.
The vote failed to present a clear winner, with independent candidates, most loyal to Khan, winning the highest 101 parliamentary seats, according to official results. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party of three-time former PM Nawaz Sharif bagged 75 seats and former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari-led Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) came in third, with 54 seats.
But Chattha’s admission as well as allegations against other state functionaries renewed calls from political parties and rights groups for an independent audit of polls.
On Sunday, Pakistan’s election oversight body said it had formed a high-level committee to probe rigging allegations by the senior official.
